System and apparatus for a diagnostic breather dryer having a coupleable expansion pack

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided for implementing a system for providing a breather for a reservoir. The system includes a breather including a housing a dehumidifying element therein. The system further includes an operational sensor positioned within the housing, the operational sensor configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a measured operational parameter of the breather, and an expansion pack coupleable to the housing, the expansion pack is configured to receive the sensor signal indicative of the measured operational parameter and to transmit at least one of the measured operational parameter or a representation thereof. The system includes a control unit communicatively coupleable to the expansion pack having a processor, a display unit, and a storage. The processor executes a control application configured to receive the at least one of the measured operational parameter or representation thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A breather for a reservoir, the breather comprising:
 a housing, the housing including:
 a dehumidifying element positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the outside to the inside or from the inside to the outside of the reservoir must pass through the dehumidifying element; and 
 an operational sensor positioned within the housing, wherein the operational sensor is configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a measured operational parameter of the breather; and 
 
 an expansion pack coupleable to the housing, the expansion pack configured to receive the sensor signal indicative of the measured operational parameter and to transmit at least one of the measured operational parameter or a representation thereof, wherein the expansion pack comprises at least one sensor and further comprises an intake section configured to couple to a head space coupler, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to measure at least one parameter associated with a medium received at the intake section. 
 
     
     
       2. The breather of  claim 1 , wherein the breather comprises a plurality of operational sensors each coupleable to the expansion pack when the expansion pack is coupled to the breather. 
     
     
       3. The breather of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of operational sensors comprises a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of an inside of the housing adjacent to the temperature sensor, a first humidity sensor configured to measure a first humidity level adjacent to a location of the first humidity sensor within the housing, and a second humidity sensor configured to measure a second humidity level adjacent to a location of the second humidity sensor within the housing, and
 wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of a representation of an output of the temperature sensor, a representation of an output of the first humidity sensor, and a representation of an output of the second humidity sensor. 
 
     
     
       4. The breather of  claim 3 , wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, and the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor via a physically wired communication interface. 
     
     
       5. The breather of  claim 3 , wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, and the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor via a wireless communication interface. 
     
     
       6. The breather of  claim 3 , wherein the expansion pack includes a controller, the controller configured to perform at least one operation upon at least one of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, or the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor, and to transmit at least a representation of the operation upon at least one of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, or the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor. 
     
     
       7. The breather of  claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one end of life parameter based at least in part upon one or more of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, and the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor. 
     
     
       8. The breather of  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to transmit a representation of the determined at least one end of life parameter. 
     
     
       9. The breather of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a pressure sensor, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to measure the at least one parameter from air received via the intake section. 
     
     
       10. A system for providing a breather for a reservoir, the system comprising:
 a breather having:
 a housing; 
 a dehumidifying element positioned within the housing such that air passing through the breather from the outside to the inside or from the inside to the outside of the reservoir must pass through the dehumidifying element; 
 an operational sensor positioned within the housing, wherein the operational sensor is configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a measured operational parameter of the breather; and 
 an expansion pack coupleable to the housing, the expansion pack configured to receive the sensor signal indicative of the measured operational parameter and to transmit at least one of the measured operational parameter or a representation thereof; 
 
 a control unit communicatively coupleable to the expansion pack, the control unit including a processor, a display unit, and a storage, the processor configured to execute a control application stored in the storage and configured to receive the at least one of the measured operational parameter or representation thereof; and 
 a head space coupler coupleable between the reservoir and the expansion pack, 
 wherein the expansion pack comprises at least one sensor and further comprises an intake section configured to couple to the head space coupler, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to measure at least one parameter associated with a medium received at the intake section. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to communicatively couple to the expansion pack via at least one communication path. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one communication path is a physically wired communication path. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one communication path is a wireless communication path. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the display unit is configured to display at least one of an end of life parameter or an operational characteristic of the breather based at least in part upon the sensor signal. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the control unit comprises a controller configured to perform one or more operations upon the received at least one of the measured operational parameter or representation thereof, to determine at least one of an end of life parameter or an operational characteristic of the breather based at least in part upon a result of the one or more operations upon the received at least one of the measured operational parameter or representation thereof, and to output a visual indication of the determined at least one of the end of life parameter or the operational characteristic of the breather via the display unit. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the breather comprises a plurality of operational sensors each coupleable to the expansion pack when the expansion pack is coupled to the breather. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of operational sensors comprises a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of an inside of the housing adjacent to the temperature sensor, a first humidity sensor configured to measure a first humidity level adjacent to a location of the first humidity sensor within the housing, and a second humidity sensor configured to measure a second humidity level adjacent to a location of the second humidity sensor within the housing, and
 wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of a representation of an output of the temperature sensor, a representation of an output of the first humidity sensor, and a representation of an output of the second humidity sensor. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, and the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor via a physically wired communication interface. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the expansion pack is configured to transmit each of the representation of the output of the temperature sensor, the representation of the output of the first humidity sensor, and the representation of the output of the second humidity sensor via a wireless communication interface. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to determine at least one end of life parameter based at least in part upon one or more of the output of the temperature sensor, the output of the first humidity sensor, and the output of the second humidity sensor. 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 20 , wherein the controller is configured to transmit a representation of the determined at least one end of life parameter to the control unit, the control unit configured to display at least one of an end of life parameter or an operational characteristic of the breather based at least in part upon the one or more of the output of the temperature sensor, the output of the first humidity sensor, and the output of the second humidity sensor. 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a pressure sensor, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to measure the at least one parameter from air received via the intake section.